by James Hunter
Osmark nodded in understanding. “They get worse the more frequently you die—a little known secret we’ve worked to keep under wraps. The truth is, we don’t understand what the hallucinations are or why they happen at all. Dying in Viridian Gate is a highly traumatic experience, as you know from personal experience. We tried to tone it down, of course, but there were problems in the early test version we never managed to iron out. Some of our analysts think the inter-death hallucinations are some sort of coping mechanism.” He paused for a moment, our feet rustling through the undergrowth. “And how about you, Jack? Are you feeling okay? You seem …” He faltered, lips compressing. “A bit unsettled.”
I shrugged again, dream Cutter’s words swirling around inside my head, “Fighting is one thing. Hells, even dying is not so bad, so long as you are the only one that suffers the consequences. But being a leader? … Those deaths belong to you.”
“Feeling a little guilty, I guess. Our plan to take down Vox really backfired. The mayor trusted me. All of those Vale warriors trusted me. And now they’re dead, and I have to own that.” We were both silent, walking slowly. After a time, I stole a sidelong glance at him. “How do you handle the guilt? You’re a business leader. A faction leader. When you make bad decisions and it hurts people, how do you get over it? Or do you?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Sometimes I forget how different we really are—or at least how different we were before this. You know, the more time we spend together, the more I find you rubbing off on me. You’re brave, Jack. You have a good head on your shoulders. This experience”—he waved at the forest— “it’s taught me more than I’d like to admit, but I think there’s a lesson I can teach you too: You’re going to make mistakes. There’s no such thing as a flawless game. And if you hold onto every failure, every misstep, eventually they’ll crush you.
“Eventually, you’ll second-guess yourself so much and so often, you’ll stop making choices at all. And a choice based in fear is far worse than a bad one based in conviction. Our fight against Vox? Yes, it failed. Spectacularly. But we did the best we could. We made educated decisions based on the information we had available. Orderly. Logical. Well thought out. Which goes to show that even a perfect plan can fail—there’s never a sure thing. Besides, those men chose to be there. You didn’t force them into that valley. They wanted to be there, to fight for their freedom. You can’t take a loss like that personally.”
Although he was still talking, I wasn’t really listening. Orderly. Logical. Well thought out. That’s what Osmark had said. My mind lurched into action, a light bulb flickering on inside my skull. “You’re a genius,” I said, eyes wide.
He stopped talking, a look of bewilderment flashing across his face. “That’s certainly true,” he replied, eyes narrowing, “but the timing of your admission is confusing. Why do you say so?”
“Two reasons.” I thrust two fingers into the air. “One, that is some solid advice, and two, you just told me how we can beat Vox. It all just clicked into place.” I snapped my fingers with a grin. “Boom, just like that. Orderly. Logical. Well thought out. That’s the answer, and of course it would come from you, the Champion of Chaos.” I laughed out loud, knowing I sounded a little mad and not caring. “Come on, we need to get everyone together.”
I broke into a jog, heading back to the clearing as I sent out PMs. In next to no time, we were all back in the little camp area beside the meadow, my crew assembled around me in a circle. Abby, Cutter, Amara, Osmark, Jay, Ari, and the mayor. My Realm of Order dream team.
“You’ve kept us in bloody suspense for long enough,” Cutter said, scowling at me as I paced. “The way I reckon, we have about twelve hours before Vox finishes his work and we’re all stuck here forever.” He paused, glancing around solemnly. “And I don’t know about any of you,” he continued, voice grave, “but berry wine is no bloody substitute for good mead, so I aim to find a way to do that bastard Vox in for good. So, what’s the bloody plan, already?”
“Chaos is the plan,” I said, rubbing my hands together as I tried to fit all the pieces together inside my head. “At least in part. See here’s the thing, we should’ve won last time around. Our army should’ve been a match for Vox’s. But somehow, he saw through us from a mile off.”
“Bloody right he did,” Cutter mumbled. “I haven’t felt like such a useless sod in ages. The bloke had our number.”
“Yep,” I said, jabbing a finger at him. “He had our number because he’s obsessed with Order. That’s his whole thing. Order. And we played into his hands by executing a plan that was by the books perfect—he was able to counter us so easily because that was exactly what he would’ve done in our place. We can’t beat him at that game, so we need to change the rules and force him to play our game.
“We work smarter, not harder.” I tapped my temple. “Just think about it. So far, the Guardians we’ve been going up against were all way out of our league. The Cove Crab?” I shot Osmark a look, eyebrow arched. “No way should we have beat that thing, but we did. Why? Because we hit him with something unpredictable. Something that someone obsessed with Order would never come up with because it flies in the face of who and what they are. Same thing with the Architect. Crashing a stolen zephyr into his chest? No one could predict that.”
“True,” Osmark said, “but there’s no way we can drop a giant sea squid on top of Vox’s head. We can’t even utilize your Shadow Stride ability to gain access to the pillar.”
“No, but we have another zephyr,” Jay said with a shrug. “Maybe we could just fly that into him?”
“Nope.” I shook my head. “Won’t work. He’s seen us do that, so now it’ll be on his radar. He’ll be on the lookout for it. We need to do something he can’t predict. Something chaotic. Something he’s never seen. But the zephyr could help.” Another idea hit like a cinderblock to the back of the skull. I pulled the little silver anchor that Sapphira had given to me from my pocket. The Favor of the Sea. “Maybe there’s a way to win this yet.”
I leaned over and pushed the silver anchor into Cutter’s hand. “I know you’re not a big fan of responsibility, but I need you for something. Something big. You got me?”
He hesitated for a moment and glanced between me and Amara. Maybe she should do it, that look said. But no, I held his gaze. I reminded myself that Cutter was a reflection of me in many ways; he certainly had my same hang-ups, and it was time for him to grow past them. Finally, my friend sighed and wrapped his hand around the pendant. “Yeah, fine. I’m your man, Jack. What do you need me to do, eh?”
I clapped him on the shoulder. “I need you to save the day. You’re gonna hoof it back to the Vale and get ahold of that blimp. Then you’ll have to take the zephyr and make for the Cove …” I gave him the rough details of my plan, and a devilish grin spread across his face as he listened. When I finished, he stood and slipped away from the clearing, practically bouncing on his toes in excitement. I just hoped Sapphira wouldn’t impale him through the throat when she heard my request.
“Okay, if everything goes according to plan, Cutter will help us kill the Lich Priest like the rabid dog he is, but we still need to figure a way to knock the pillar out of play. My guess is that Vox will expect me to try and do the heavy lifting myself, that or send in Osmark like I did in the Drowned Temple. Since we’re both Champions and top-level players, that makes logical sense. And it also means that neither Osmark or I can make a run at the pillar.” I paused, staring at each party member in turn. “None of you can …” I paused, staring at Ari. “Except maybe you.”
“Me?” she squeaked, brow furrowed as her color changed to a brilliant pink. “I’ll do whatever you need, but I’m not sure I’m the right gal for the job.”
“Precisely. Everyone underestimates you. Everyone. Vox will, too. And here’s the thing, I’ve seen what you’re capable of doing. And yes, maybe you alone can’t take down the pillar, but what about a swarm of Pixies? He’ll never expect it, which means he’ll ne
ver see it coming when you ambush the crap out of him. But pulling it off will be dangerous. So, let me ask you, how badly do you want to get revenge on Vox for what he did to your brother? What he did to your land?”
“More than anything,” she growled, voice feral and positively scary.
“Good. Map?”
The mayor pulled the paper map we’d been using earlier from his inventory and unfurled it on the pine-needle-strewn ground.
I hunched forward and began tracing out a new route with one finger. “It’s going to take you eight or nine hours to make the trek, I’d wager. You’ll have to leave now to make it in time, but if you can get the Pixies in place in time, we can make Vox pay for everything and then some …”
“You won’t be disappointed, Champion,”Ari said, burning like a fiery ember as I finished explaining what they needed to do. “We’ll be in place and ready to serve.” She zipped away like a shooting star, ready to rouse the Pixies into action.
“As for the rest of us,” I said, rubbing my hands together, “I’m gonna need your help. There’s an important piece of the puzzle that I didn’t even realize I was missing until I saw Vox transform into that crazy seven-headed nightmare Hydra. See, I’ve been so focused on destroying the pillars and getting us home, that I completely ignored the other part of the original quest prompt: ‘Hone your abilities as Champion of Order and restore the realm.’ We’ve been trying to restore the realm, but I haven’t been paying a whole lot of attention to honing my abilities as Champion of Order.
“See, Vox is not the first champion I’ve faced. Osmark and I went toe-to-toe with Carrera, too, and he was also able to shift into this scary-ass World Boss thing when the chips were down. My guess is that all champions must have access to a similar skill, including me. And once Osmark unlocks his Champion of Chaos Skill Tree, he’ll probably get a similar ability too.”
“Wait a minute,” Jay grunted, flinging his hands up. “You tellin’ us you’re going to be able to transform into a seven-headed Hydra?”
“Bingo,” I said with a bob of my head. “I mean we’ll have to wait until I unlock my ultimate Champion of Order ability, Avatar of Order, but that’s what I’m thinking.”
“Bunch of over powered bullcrap, if you ask me,” the monk grumbled under his breath.
I ignored him and pulled up my Champion of Order Skill Tree:
“Yeah. It’s definitely gotta be the Avatar of Order ability,” I mused out loud before pulling up the locked skill:
<<<>>>
Skill: Avatar of Order
Channel the Divine essence of Sophia, Overmind of Order and Balance, becoming the living embodiment of her power and force for a short time. While acting as the Avatar, you are a living god with unimaginable powers. This is the ultimate ability of the Champion of Order, but remember, all things have a cost, and the more powerful the ability, the steeper the price tag …
Skill Type/Level: Spell/Initiate
Cost: 2,000 Spirit
Range: On Caster
Cast Time: Instant
Cooldown: 24 hours
Duration: 5 minutes
Effect 1: Invulnerability to all non-enchanted weapons; 50% resistance to all enchanted weapons
Effect 2: +25% to all elemental resistances
Effect 3: Hit Points, Armor Rating, Attack Strength, Spell Strength, and Movement Rate are doubled
Effect 4: Unlock special abilities, Giant Growth, Pulse Shield, Burning Talons
Effect 5: When Hit Points drop below 75%, the special ability Desperate Strength is activated. Added Strength Bonus = 3 x Character Level
Effect 6: When Hit Points drop below 50%, the special ability Cleansing Light is activated. Unleash a powerful beam of Cleansing Light, dealing 550% of Spell Power on contact. Only effects players and creatures with an “Evil” or “Holy” Alignment.
Order’s Price: 50,000 EXP (permanently deducted from the player’s stats)
Restriction 1: While acting as Avatar of Order, you cannot use potions!
Restriction 2: While acting as Avatar of Order, you cannot access normal skills and abilities!
<<<>>>
“Vox is still far more powerful than me,” I said, closing out of the screen, “so my guess is he’ll still probably mop the floor with me, but coming at him head-on as the Avatar is something he’ll understand. This is something he’ll expect. I’ll distract him with my brand-new, super fancy ability—all nice and proper and orderly—and lure him into a false sense of security. I’ll wear him down as much as I can. And then? When he’s overconfident that he’s going to win? We’ll hit him with the biggest sucker punch anyone’s ever seen.”
Osmark grinned, a dangerous glint in his eye. “I like it. Bold. Reckless. But it also has a certain brilliance. I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Jack.”
“Well, don’t celebrate yet,” I replied, “there’s still one minor hiccup in the plan that I’m gonna need help with.” I faltered, cleared my throat, then shed a nervous grin. “I need you all to help me power level. I still need to gain one Champion of Order Level to unlock Avatar of Order, but that’s not the only thing. The price tag to use it is 50,000 experience points. Since I just died, I’m down to a big fat zero. We have eight hours to make up the difference.”
Jay snorted. “Impossible.” He shook his head. “Without completing some major quest line, there’s no way.”
“I disagree,” Osmark said slowly, rubbing absently at his chin. “I know exactly how we can do it. Let’s get back to the meadow, we have some prep work to do. If my calculations are correct, those Rabbit Thralls will respawn in”—he paused, eyes hazy as he glanced at his interface—“one hour and fifteen minutes. Time to grind …”
THIRTY-ONE_
Showdown
We stood on the mountain pass again, staring down at the Burning Expanse, only hours to go until the mission expired, Vox usurped control over the Realm of Order, and we were trapped here indefinitely. It was now or never. One shot to get it right. But this time we’d be ready. I hoped. After grinding Rabbit Thralls for the past eight hours—Jay pulling, Osmark, Abby, and Amara wearing them down before I finished them off—I was free from the Death Debuffs, and I’d leveled up as Champion of Order and unlocked my ultimate ability: Avatar of Order.
Still, anxiety churned inside me like a tropical storm. I said a silent prayer that my new plan wouldn’t be a suicide mission. I mean, each use of the Avatar of Order ability cost 50,000 EXP. I was at level 44 and at this stage in the game, it cost nearly 100,000 EXP to move up a single level. Using that ability just one time would wipe out half of the points I needed to advance. That was one helluva steep commitment, and it made it impossible to take a “practice run.” If the ability turned out to be a dud, the Lich Priest was gonna eat me alive and this whole plan would explode in my face.
I glanced back over one shoulder at Abby, Osmark, Jay, and Amara in turns, then eyeballed the ragtag remnants of the Vale Army. They looked scared, uncertain. And for good reason. The last time I’d asked them to follow me down this path, more than half of their friends had died in agony. This time will be different, I reminded myself. It had to be.
With a grunt, I turned back toward the Expanse and squared my shoulders. “Let’s move out,” I said, marching down the path, feet crunching on the gravel. My crew followed just behind me, while the remaining Gnomes and Satyrs trudged along behind them in two columns, nice and neat and orderly. There was no sign of the Flame Salamanders from earlier, which meant they were probably taking refuge in the winding lava flows, waiting to spring another ambush. Likewise, the skeletons were nowhere to be seen. Reverted back to piles of bones, ready to be summoned at a moment’s call, no doubt.
But I sure as hell saw Vox—now back in his human form. He lounged at the base of the ziggurat, little more than a stick figure in the distance. But I knew it was him.
I stopped at the bottom of the winding pass, standing on the hardpan below. I pulled my warhammer from my
belt and rested the head against my shoulder. My friends flanked me on either side, Osmark and Abby to my right, Jay and Amara to the left. Instead of advancing, the Vale Army formed up into a square behind me, five columns of ten soldiers each. Warriors toward the front, archers and spellcasters toward the rear—though I hoped it wouldn’t actually come to a fight. They were here for show.
“Vox,” I yelled at the top of my lungs, voice carrying over the barren landscape like a trumpet blast. “It’s time we ended this once and for all, champion to champion.” The figure loitering at the ziggurat stood and the air shimmered as the Lich blinked out of existence only to reappear a few feet away, stepping from a glowing green rift which hung in the air.
“I see you’ve recovered,” Vox said with a smug grin, one hand resting on the pommel of his odd mace. “And decided to come back for a rematch, no less.” He paused, scanning the troops. “But you haven’t learned your lesson, I see. You couldn’t beat me last time, and you had double your current numbers.” He shook his head and tisked.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I said, stepping forward, oozing confidence even though I secretly felt like puking. “After seeing your Hydra trick, I figured it out. The Avatar of Order ability. You aren’t the only one who has a final form now.”
He scoffed and folded his hands behind his back. “You really think you can best me in single combat? I’ve held the mantle of Champion of Order for a thousand years. I am a force of nature, Imposter. You are false. You conspire with an agent of Chaos.” His eyes flashed to Osmark. “Your army could not stand against me, and neither can you.”
“Sounds like you’re afraid to face me, Vox,” I replied coolly, ignoring his jabs. “I’ve been thinking a lot about you since our last battle, and that’s what I’ve come to realize. You’re a weak, pathetic excuse of a man.” I could see the anger ignite inside his chest and the hate seething on his face. “It’s no wonder Sophia abandoned you as Champion of Order and chose me to replace you.” I taunted him, stepping forward. “You’re a coward, Vox. You don’t care about Order. You care about survival. About yourself. You’re the imposter. The fraud. And I’m here to restore Order once and for all.”